Business entities in Latvia in 2023

Healy Consultants assists our Clients to setup the optimal corporate structure for their business needs. There are several business entities in Latvia, the most common being the LLC. Foreign companies can also setup a JSC, a Branch office or a Representative office.

Limited Liability Company (SIA)

This is the most common business entity in Latvia. A Latvian LLC must appoint at least 1 shareholder and 1 director, who can be of any nationality. The minimum share capital required to set up a LLC is €2,800 with at least 50% deposited at registration;
Companies must be audited if they fall under two of the following three criteria i) over €800,000 in annual turnover ii) €400,000 in assets iii) average of 25 employees during the year;
There is a special type of LLC called the micro enterprise, which is an LLC with i) all individual shareholders ii) annual turnover less than €100,000 iii) less than 5 employees and iv) salary of each employee less than €720 per month. The minimum share capital required to set up a micro enterprise is €1.
Our Clients who wish to setup a holding company in Latvia, register an LLC. They then use this LLC as the corporate shareholder for subsidiaries around the world.

Joint Stock Company (AS)

This Latvian business setup can be incorporated with 1 shareholder and 1 director who can be of any nationality. However, if the company is publically listed, 3 directors will be appointed. The minimum share capital required for a JSC is €35,000;
JSCs can be setup either privately or via public subscription by listing on the stock exchange. There is only one stock exchange in Latvia, namely the NASDAQ OMX Riga, which has only 32 corporations listed. Our Clients may alternatively list their JSC in other stock exchanges in the EU.

The Branch office

The scope of operations of a branch office will be defined by the parent company. Additionally, the parent company will be accountable for all the liabilities of its branch;
A branch office is liable to the same reporting, tax and audit requirements as a resident company.

The Representative office

This Latvian business setup is not allowed to engage in commercial or productive activities. This entity can engage only in i) promoting the business of the parent company and ii) conducting market research;
A representative office is not required to have statutory audits.

Table of Comparison between Latvia entities

	LLC	JSC	Branch office	Rep Office
How long to set the company up?	4 weeks	5 weeks	5 weeks	4 weeks
How long to open company bank account?	4 weeks	4 weeks	4 weeks	4 weeks
Legal Liability?	Limited	Limited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Wholly Foreign owned?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Minimum paid-up share capital?	€2,800	€35,000	€0	€0
% of the share capital paid up before registration	50%	100%	0	0
File annual tax return?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Tax Registration Certificate required?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Corporate Bank Account?	Norvik Bank	Swedbank	SEB Bank	ABLV Bank
Does our Client need to travel?	No	No	No	No
Resident director required?	No	No	No	No
Resident shareholder required?	No	No	No	No
Minimum directors allowed?	1	1	1	1
Minimum shareholders?	1	1	1	1
Latvian resident company secretary required?	No	No	No	No
Corporate shareholders allowed?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Corporate director(s) allowed?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Public register of shareholders and directors?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Latvia Corporate Tax Rate?	20%	20%	20%	0%
Annual financial statements required?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Statutory audit required?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Allowed to issue sales invoices?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Allowed to sign contracts?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Allowed to import and export goods?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Can rent an office in Latvia?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Can buy Latvian property?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Can own equity in other Latvian companies?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Total Latvia business setup costs in Yr. 1	€8,990	€10,500	€9,580	€8,730
Subsequent annual costs (incl. accounting and tax fee)	€3,580	€5,070	€5,020	€5,020
Sample Engagement fee Invoice	View invoice PDF	View invoice PDF	View invoice PDF	View invoice PDF